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Topic: Primary without an airlock (Read 3519 times)

Is it ok to not use an airlock or blow off tube for my primary? The reason I'm asking is because I may be using a swamp cooler (Igloo 70 quart) that fits a 6.5 gallon carboy with only mm to spare at the top with the lid on. My other option is to use the ole' rubbermaid bucket. Thoughts? Thank you all.

Shouldn't be a problem. I'd probably put foil over the top to keep anything airborne from landing in it - at least until fermentation takes off. But there are a few pictures of completely open fermenters around this forum too.

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Delmarva United Homebrewers - President by inverse coup - former president ousted himself.AHA Member since 2006BJCP Certified: B0958

You also don't really need to keep the lid on the swamp cooler. I never did.

Just one note of caution (very very minor caution) if you are using those stick on Liquid crystal thermo strips they do not like to be submerged in water. they will freak out and never work again. Given that they cost all of 3 bucks this is not the end of the world but can be annoying. So if you use those and a swamp cooler the water should be far enough below the top level of the beer that you can put a strip on horizontally above the water level but below the beer level.

Not to worry. The thermalmass of the liquid keeps the temp from changing rapidly. I used Igloo Ice Coolers, somewhat of a square cooler, and cut a hole in the top for the lock. I used one liter frozen bottles and a floating thermometer. Of course all this is before freezers and temp controllers. You would be good with the foil on the carboy if you choose that route

Thank you for the replies. Whatever I do I think I will bypass the airlock for a blowoff tube. Seems to be the consensus here. Maybe a blowoff tube into a bucket of sani? One explosion inside the house and this hobby will become much more difficult!

Can't I completely avoid the blow off tube by brewing less beer (forgive me)? I'll only be using primary (6.5 gallon carboy) and if I brew a smaller batch, maybe 2-4 gallons vs the 5 that the kit came with, wouldn't this eliminate any chance of an explosion or stuff coming out of a blow off tube? While this may be sacrilegious, there is no way I can reasonably drink 5 gallons of beer is short order. I also like the idea of smaller batches for less bottles to clean out, brewing more often, etc.

Can't I completely avoid the blow off tube by brewing less beer (forgive me)? I'll only be using primary (6.5 gallon carboy) and if I brew a smaller batch, maybe 2-4 gallons vs the 5 that the kit came with, wouldn't this eliminate any chance of an explosion or stuff coming out of a blow off tube? While this may be sacrilegious, there is no way I can reasonably drink 5 gallons of beer is short order. I also like the idea of smaller batches for less bottles to clean out, brewing more often, etc.

If you keep the temp under control (mid 60s) and you put only 5 gallons in a 6.5 gallon bucket you are likely golden on the blow off front. Most out of control blow off situations come from too high fermentation temps. you might get a little krausen (the foam on fermenting beer) out the top of the fermenter or thorugh the blow off tube/airlock but it will easily be contained by the cooler.

smaller batches are great, a lot of folks on here brew 2-4 gallon batches. However, I think you will be surprised at how quickly 5 gallons of beer can disappear when you brewed it yourself. and if you keep it cool it's good for months (depending on style) or years even. I have about 2.5 gallons of a barley wine I brewed in early 2011 still in the closet and it just keeps getting better.

Just made me think. What if you just took a brand new cooler, lathered the whole thing with StarSan, and pitched directly in the cooler. ...Hmmmm(the sound of wheels turning)... what if i could make my chest freezer a sanitary watertight/beertight, temperature controlled lagering tank?Any ideas?Seriously though, I have a 15 gallon glass wine carboy-type vessel which is just a wee wider than my chest freezer. I like to occasionally do 10+ G. batches and i don't like having to split batches into 2 or more fermenters (carboys).